Fishing with Friends
by J-ster
Summary: Lucas thought that fishing was supposed to be a relaxing sport. But can anything be relaxing when you include Barry, Dawn, and the possibility of a very powerful Magikarp lurking beneath the water?


**Fishing with Friends**

It truly was a beautiful day at the Resort Area, the sun was out with some clouds in the sky and a gentle breeze blew through the area.

'_The perfect day for fishing.'_ Lucas thought as he strolled out of the Resort Area pokemon center with a super rod in hand. Today he was going to find out whether or not the rumors he'd heard about the powerful Magikarp (by Magikarp standards) that supposedly could be found with the use of a super rod were true. '_It'll also be interesting to study this powerful_ _Magikarp._' Lucas grinned as he strolled around the path surrounding the lake before he stopped at a place he liked and after preparing his rod properly he cast it into the water and waited... and waited... and waited.

Lucas sighed as he sat himself down by the lake and placed his cheek in his palm which he balanced on his leg all while stared blankly at the rippling surface of the water. He knew that fishing didn't start out very exciting but he had expected it to be relaxing while all he felt now was restlessness. Restlessness was a feeling that remained Lucas of Dawn's hyperactive friend Barry... that was no good since Lucas found Barry a little annoying. With a quick shake of his head Lucas banished all thoughts of the hasty kid, thinking about Barry's brand of insanity could only bring bad luck and Lucas definitely needed all the luck he could get, especially since he was fishing. Despite that though Lucas couldn't help but hope that something would come and spice up this fishing trip. He'd get his wish and soon, because mere moments after Lucas' thought, he heard what sounded like Barry and Dawn. Lucas didn't bother to look back (if he couldn't see them they couldn't see him) he wasn't really interested in meeting up with Barry even if Dawn was with him.

Lucas would soon regret not turning around since he was unaware that the two were headed right for him.

"Barry! Look out!"

"Huh, wha-aaah!"

With a yell Barry careened right into Lucas' back and fell over him into the lake, dragging Dawn with him.

Lucas groaned and rubbed his aching back, Barry was running pretty fast, he hoped it didn't bruise. Lucas shot a heated glare at Barry as he climbed out of the water and onto the grass, completely soaked.

"I'm fining you both 10 million." Barry coughed, causing Lucas to sputter in disbelief before both he and Dawn, who had just surfaced a while ago yelled out.

"What did I do?"

Barry passed the two a disbelieving look over his shoulder. How could they not know what they did wrong? With an exasperated sigh - because they should already know this – Barry began to explain his reasoning, though it was a nuisance to do so.

"I'm fining you Dawn, for not warning me sooner," Barry started while absent mindedly reaching for his Infernape's pokeball at his waist, "and I'm fining you whatshisface for being in the way." The blond boy let out a small 'ah ha' as he found Infernape's pokeball and tossed it to the ground he then got his Infernape to dry him off. He was completely oblivious to the looks and the mention of someone named Lucas that was happening behind him. As the two started to talk about how unreasonable Barry was being he butted in.

"Yeah, yeah, excuses excuses. Come on Dawn; remember we've got places to go, things to see, battles to win."

Dawn nodded the affirmative as she moved to stand next to Barry so Infernape could dry her off.

"What exactly are you two doing here anyway?" Lucas finally asked, he really wanted to know why Barry specifically wasn't over at the Battle Frontier battling like there was no tomorrow.

"Well," Dawn shot Barry an annoyed glance while saying this, "I was going to challenge the Battle Castle but then Barry, dragged me off saying how we needed to explore and train more. And that's how we ended up here."

Before Lucas could even comment on anything Barry spoke up, "Oh please Dawn, you know I'm only trying to help you out; you'll need all the help you can get if you plan on taking on my dad. You wouldn't stand a chance against him right now."

Dawn rolled her eyes and Lucas realized through process of elimination that Barry's dad was the Tower Tycoon Palmer.

"So, what are you doing here Lucas?" Dawn asked.

"Well, I'm fishing," Lucas said, looking back at his fishing rod, "I've heard that there are some unusually strong Magikarp here and I want to study them."

"Didn't Professor Rowan send you off on a one week break?" Dawn asked just as Lucas finished speaking. She was right though, Lucas was supposed to be on a break. For whatever reason the professor had decided to give Lucas a one week break and he hadn't explained why. Lucas was still confused as to the meaning behind this, he assumed the professor just wanted him to take a break. Secretly though he was a just a bit worried that one of the sharpest minds in Sinnoh was starting to grow dull, that is to say he was worried the professor might be starting to lose it. He didn't tell anyone these thoughts and he simply hoped that the proffessor sent him out for the former reason. The mental image of a very forgetful and confused Rowan was so out of character that it haunted his dreams.

"Wow, Luigi, I always figured you be the workaholic type," Barry said.

"It's Lucas... and fishing is supposed to be relaxing. The research is just a bonus."

"You don't mind if I join your little fishing trip do you?" Dawn asked.

Lucas shrugged, "Sure, but I can't say for sure whether or not it will be fun."

Dawn waved it off, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

There was silence for a moment then Dawn and Lucas turned towards Barry. The silent question that was being asked seemed to not have reached the boy or it had had been filtered as spam because the blond boy was busy playing a heated (pun not originally intended) game of rock-paper-scissors with his Infernape. Judging by his reaction he wasn't doing so well.

"Why do you always pick rock when I do scissors?"

Infernape grinned smugly in response.

"Barry!" Dawn called, Barry whipped around with a shout of 'what is it, can you not see I was winning'.

"Do you want to go fishing with Lucas and me?" Dawn continued unfazed, which made sense since she had know Barry since they were little and was probably used to it.

The hyperactive boy's face scrunched up in thought as he adopted a thinking pose.

"Hmm," the blond muttered, "well a strong Magikarp should evolve into a super-strong Gyarados and it shouldn't take too long to evolve either..." In his mind Barry imagined himself standing on top of a giant Gyarados cackling madly while the giant pokemon easily defeated Palmer's pokemon.

"Sure I'll join you guys just give me a second to get a fishing rod!" The hyper boy grinned while sending out his Staraptor and flying off. "Be back before you can say 'fine you 10 million'," he called as he disappeared into the horizon.

"...Fine you 10 million..."

"Come on Lucas let's get fishing!" Dawn cheered, as she pulled a super rod out of her bag and prepared it before casting it into the water.

Lucas simply plopped down next to his fishing rod before watching as Dawn sent out her Quagsire which plopped down on the ground in a manner similar to Lucas. The time that followed this was full of silence and boredom. Lucas and Dawn talked for a while before they fell into silence; Lucas had even drifted off at one point and he was sure he had seen Dawn struggling to stay awake at one point too.

After what felt like hours something finally happened. Lucas noticed a tug on his rod and almost instantly he was up and trying to reel the pokemon in. Mere seconds later Dawn and her Quagsire were with him and helping tug at the fishing rod. Ever so slowly the trio started to gain ground on whatever was pulling against them.

"I'm back," sounded Barry's voice from right behind them, the suddenness and loudness scaring off whatever was in the water and causing the fishing trio to fall flat on their butts.

"Did ya miss me?" Barry grinned while assuming a ridiculous pose -fishing rod in hand- that Lucas did not wish to remember. He probably thought it looked cool. When no one responded to his question Barry continued, "You guys have no idea what I had to go through to get this thing," he shook the rod to emphasize this, "let's just say that I've seen things... things that would haunt you 'till the day you died. I'll never see this world the same way again..." Barry finished, with a far-off look in his eyes.

By the end of this Lucas and Dawn were staring at the hyperactive boy and then each other in bewilderment. They weren't sure that they'd be able to see Barry the same way again. Whatever he had experience had changed him... probably for the better.

"Come on what are you guys waiting for? Let's go catch some Magikarp!"

Or maybe he hadn't changed at all.

Lucas and Dawn shared another look. Whatever Barry had experienced couldn't have been that bad... could it?

With this chilling thought in mind the two previously fishing teens headed back towards the lake and Barry attempting to cast farther than them. Once the blond was satisfied with his superior casting skills, which he made sure to point out, the trio and Quagsire lapsed into silence.

All was quiet and peaceful the only sound was the gentle blowing of the wind and the occasional splash of the water.

"Aaagh! Why didn't anyone tell me all you did was sit and wait for a pokemon to bite when fishing? If I wanted to do something this boring I would have gone and watched some golf, or gone shopping with my mother!"

To give Barry some credit he did last for three minutes and ten seconds, three minutes over his record.

With one more yell Barry sent out his Floatzel and then began to strip down to his boxers.

"Come on Floatzel, if nothing's gonna bite than were gonna make 'em bite!" Floatzel nodded swiftly and dived into the water with a splash followed by its trainer.

And all was once again silent.

After a couple seconds Dawn peeked out between her fingers and relaxed when she didn't see Barry. All was peaceful and Lucas found it was kinda relaxing, but it wasn't long before Barry and Floatzel came rocketing straight out of the water, splashing Lucas and Dawn.

"Look out," Barry hollered, his eyes wide, as seconds later the water exploded upwards and the enraged face of a Gyarados was revealed.

Lucas and Dawn yelped as they scrambled away from the shore and Dawn called for her Quagsire to use waterfall.

"What did you do to get this thing angry?" Lucas yelled at Barry who was quickly grabbed up his clothes and ran from the shore.

"I don't know. I really didn't do anything."

* * *

_Twenty seconds earlier_

Barry inwardly sighed as he looked around the lake, he couldn't find any pokemon to lure up to the shore at all. With another inward sigh he swam down to some muddy rocks he could see near the bottom. The rocks looked odd they were all right next to each other instead of spread out and one of them had a strange crest on it. The blond boy moved to the one with the crest and felt around. One point on it felt like there was something soft underneath it. Just before Barry could try to take a closer look he was suddenly being pulled to the surface by his Floatzel who looked worried. Before Barry could try to complain - though it wouldn't have been very smart- he heard a roar from below and then he broke the surface of the water.

* * *

"Right..." Lucas muttered sarcastically as he sent out his Kadabra and had it use psybeam just as Barry's Floatzel attacked with crunch. It wasn't long after that that the Gyarados was defeated, three on one just didn't work out in its favor. Especially when one of its three opponents was the champion of Sinnoh and another was her rival.

"Well that wasn't so bad." Barry grinned as he patted his Floatzel on the head.

Dawn smiled. Lucas just looked irritated.

"Let's just get back to fishing." Lucas sighed.

* * *

From that point on Lucas decided he was going to try to be a little bit more proactive in his search for relaxation. Unfortunately it didn't seem to be working very well so far.

Lucas gave a sideways glance to Barry and Dawn who seemed to be engaged in some sort of competition that involved their pokemon and fishing.

Eventually afternoon turned into evening and then evening into night. The Sinnoh trio had caught many Magikarp, but none seem to be as powerful as they figured the one they were looking for should be. Finally Lucas had decided he'd had enough for one day. Between not catching what they were looking for, Dawn and Barry's constant competitions, Dawn and Barry's numerous battles, getting hit by attacks from their battles and Barry being Barry enough was enough.

After getting up and dusting his pants off Lucas swiftly packed his rod into his bag, then moved to leave.

"Hey, where d'ya think you're going!" That was undoubtedly Barry.

"I'm going to bed." Lucas said simply without turning around. He gestured towards the moon in the sky, "It's late."

Barry frowned, "Well fine, but don't come crying to me when I end up catching that ultra strong Magikarp and not you!" He stomped angrily back over to Dawn who quickly said goodnight to Lucas then turned back towards the lake.

After offering the new Sinnoh champion a quick goodbye Lucas started to walk away. Then it happened. There was a large splash and then Professor Rowan's assistant suddenly found himself roughly pressed into the ground.

There was a moment of silence.

"Whoa," Barry and Dawn gasped simultaneously.

Flopping on top of Lucas was the biggest Magikarp Barry or Dawn had ever seen. It must have been twice - maybe even three or four times the size of the average Magikarp. It certainly weighed more and with its constant moving it was making it hard for Lucas to catch the breath that the fish pokemon had so callously smacked out of him.

After taking some time to get reoriented Lucas ever so slowly began reaching for a pokeball. His only thought being to capture the monstrosity on his chest so he could breath properly again. Lucas was so focus on reaching the ball that he almost didn't hear Barry's yell. Then suddenly the weight on his chest was gone. Lucas managed to raise his head and just catch the end of Barry being slapped across the face by a fishy tail.

As the blond boy fell to the ground he shouted, "Dawn block it!"

Dawn flinched in surpise then moved in front of the Magikarp as it used splash and flew towards her.

Unfortunately, Dawn just wasn't able to stop the Magikarp at the speed that is was moving and so she was sent tumbling into the lake along with the fish pokemon.

Barry chuckled.

The Sinnoh champion didn't take long to resurface, she groaned irritably as she clambered back onto solid land. Seconds later she was vigorously wringing out her beanie and muttering something about Magikarp and fish food.

"You know what we gotta do now, right?" Barry asked as Dawn placed her damp beanie back on her head. "We've gotta catch that Magikarp! There's no way we can let it get away after that!"

After Dawn agreed the two rivals turned towards Lucas. Their unspoken question was obvious (and not filtered as spam); of course Lucas wanted no part in their mission for revenge. All he wanted was a nice cozy bed in the pokemon center. He made sure to tell them so as he shook his head so violently it was surprising that it didn't fall off.

Dawn and Barry both shrugged, "Goodnight," they both called, and then suddenly they were racing back towards their fishing rods with Barry already hollering out different rules for their new competition. Lucas simply smiled and shook his head as he walked back across the bridge to the pokemon center. All while listening to the gentle sounds of water splashing in the lake and Barry and Dawn yelling.

* * *

**Okay, I'd just like to say that:**

**1) I have no problem with golf**

**2) Apparently I like Magikarp more than I originally thought, since this is my second story with it. Even if it was only in near the end**

**3) I'm glad I finally finished this story**

**I literally had it almost completed for about three or four** **months. It's good to have it done.**


End file.
